NASHVILLE, Tenn. (AP) - Aaron Nesmith scored 21 points and Saben Lee came off the bench to score 15 with eight assists to lead Vanderbilt to a 71-66 win over Texas A&M-Corpus Christi on Monday night.
The Commodores improved to 2-0 under first-year coach Jerry Stackhouse, who inherited a team coming off the worst season in school history.
Vanderbilt rallied from a five-point deficit with a 10-0 run midway through the second half.
Clevon Brown, a 6-foot-8 forward from San Antonio, added 12 points for the Commodores, including four dunks in the second half and another in the first half. He grabbed eight rebounds.
Freshman point guard Scotty Pippen Jr. added 10 points for the Commodores.
Jashawn Talton-Torres led the Islanders (0-2) with 23 points, including five 3-pointers.
Corpus Christi hit 12 of 23 from beyond the 3-point arc.
Corpus Christi’s Nolan Bertrain was carried off the court by two teammates, favoring his left leg with 4:07 left. He returned to the lineup by the end of the game.
Bertrain and Myles Smith each added 11 points for the Islanders.
Corpus Christi went on an 11-0 run to take a 19-11 lead in the first half.
The Islanders hit seven of their first nine shots from 3-point range and held on for a 31-29 halftime lead.
Brown blocked his 100th shot, ranking him eighth in school history.
BIG PICTURE
Texas A&M-Corpus Christi: The Islanders are still searching for their first win after fading late in the first half.
Vanderbilt: The Commodores are off to a good start with their new coach who played in the NBA for 18 seasons.
UP NEXT
Texas A&M-Corpus Christi hosts Stony Brook in the first round of the Islander Invitational on Friday.
Vanderbilt plays its first road game at Richmond (1-0) on Thursday. Richmond rallied from a 10-point deficit with 1:40 left to beat St. Francis (Pa.) in overtime in its opener Friday.
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